Drill rod mover



Feb. 21, 1967 w. L. CRYDERMAN DRILL ROD MOVER 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed March 11, 1964 mvzmoa WARNERBL. CRYDERMAN I i 1' k/fi ATToRNEYe- Feb. 21, 1967 w. CRYDERMAN DRILL ROD MOVER 2 Sheets-Shefet 2 Filed March l1, 1964 INVENTOR WARNER L CRYDERMAN ATTORNEYS United States Patent 3,305,151 DRILL ROD MOVER Warner L. Cryderman, 13992 117th Ave., North Surrey, British Columbia, Canada Filed Mar. 11, 1964, Ser. No. 351,060 3 Claims. (Cl. 226-181) This invention relates to an apparatus for moving a drill rod in an axial direction whereby the rod may be inserted into or retracted from a drill hole.

It will be appreciated that in rock drilling operations, the extraction of a drilling rod from a drill hole is very often difiicult, due at times to the jamming of the bit at the bottom of the hole or due to the weight of the drill rod if the hole is of considerable depth. Difiiculties are also encountered when lowering the relatively long rod into a drill hole.

Apparatus has heretofore been devised, by which a drill stem or drill rod may be mechanically gripped, said apparatus being provided with power-driven means to lift or lower the drill rod relative to the drill hole.

The principal object of this invention is to provide a more eificient apparatus of this kind which is adapted for portability and which may be easily and quickly swung into position around a drill rod when required.

The present invention comprises a base having a drill rod receiving recess formed therein, two pairs of arms, pivotally connected to the base on opposite sides of the recess, said arms being adapted to be swung, in a plane parallel to the longitudinal axis of the rod, towards each other across said recess, rod gripping rollers rotatively carried by each arm near the free ends thereof, said rollers being adapted to bear against the drill red when the arms are swung towards each other to thereby grip the same, means to simultaneously rotate the rollers, and interlocking means at the free ends of the arms to prevent independent movement of the latter when the rollers are rotated.

Referring to the drawings,

FIGURE 1 is an isometric view working position,

FIGURE 2 is a component part of the apparatus partially cut away,

FIGURE 3 diagrammatically shows angular disposition of arm members relative to rotation of gripping rollers, and

FIGURE 4 diagrammatically shows the invention in an alternate operating position.

Referring to the drawings, the apparatus generally numbered comprises a U-shaped heavy gauge metal plate 12, the base 13 of the plate and the sides 14 and 15 of which form a recess 17 adapted to receive a drilling rod 18, the plane of the plate 12 being substantially normal to said drill rod.

A pair of bearing blocks 20 and 21 are secured in parallel relationship to the plate 12 on either side of the recess 17. Each of the bearing blocks is adapted to rotatably support a pair of tubular support shafts 22 and 23, respectively, each of said shafts having an enlarged cylindrical mid-portion 24 and axle portions 25 and 26 on either end thereof, said axle portions being oifset from or eccentrically disposed to the axis of the cylindrical portion 24. Through said support shafts 22 and 23 extend drive shafts 30 and 31, respectively. The support shafts 22 and 23 and drive shafts 30 and 31 lie in parallel side by side disposition relative to each other and parallel to the plate 12. Each of the bearing blocks 20 and 21 are provided with set screws 32, the inner ends of which are adapted to press upon the cylindrical portion 24 of said shafts 22 and 23 whereby the latter may be secured against rotation within said bearing blocks.

Each of the drive shafts 30 and 31 are provided with of the apparatus in a Patented Feb. 21, 1967 pinion gears 35 and 36, respectively, and each shaft is driven by worm gears 37 and 38, respectively, non-rotatably secured thereto, which mesh with oppositely inclined worms 39 formed on a transverse shaft 40, said transverse shaft being supported for rotation in suitable bearing members 41 and 41a, said members being fixedly secured to the base 13 of the plate 12. One end of the transverse shaft may be squared, as at 40, to receive a hand operated crank, not shown, whereby said shaft may be rotated. It will be apparent that said squared end may be operatively connected to a power take off unit, with which drilling trucks and the like are commonly provided, by any suitable coupling.

The axle portions 25 and 26 of each of the shafts 22 serve as rotative supports for paired arm members 43 and 44, and 45 and 46, respectively. The latter are of heavy metal construction and are elongated in shape, and are journalled at one end, one on each of the axle portions 25 and 26 of shafts 22 and 23, for pivotal movement in a plane normal to the plane of the plate 12. Tie rods 42 between members of each pair of arms normally maintain the latter in spaced parallel disposition. The tie rods are stiff and are affixed to the arms by welding to increase rigidity.

The other or free end 49 of each of the arm members is formed as an arcuately shaped gear rack 50.

Peripherally toothed gripping rollers 51 and 52 are mounted for rotation between each of the pair of arm members 43 and 44, and 45 and 46, respectively, on transverse shafts 54 and 55, respectively, said shafts being mounted for rotation between each pair of arm members near the free ends 49. The transverse shafts 54 and 55 are extended at ends 57 and 58, respectively, through their respective arm members, and said ends carry, non-rotatably secured thereto, drive gears 59 and 60, respectively, which mesh with pinion gears 35 and 36, respectively, whereby the rollers may be counterrotated upon power being applied to rotate shaft 40.

Referring to FIGURE 1, it will be seen that each pair of arm members may be freely swung towards and away from the drill rod 18. When the arm members are placed in their position, as shown in FIGURE 1, the toothed rollers 51 and 52 rest upon the sides of the drill rod and the gear racks 50 on each of the arm members of one pair intermeshes with the gear rack formed on the opposite member of the other pair, there being sufiicient bottom clearance between opposing gear racks, to permit the teeth of the gripping rollers to bite into the material of the drill rod.

FIGURE 3 showing diagrammatically the disposition of the arm members 43 and 44, and 45 and 46 indicates that upon the gripping rollers 51 and 52 meeting the drilling rod, the included angle A formed by the arm members is somewhat less than providing thereby a converging force of the gripping rollers upon the drill rod. Rotation of the gripping rollers, in a direction as shown by arrows B in FIGURE 3, will thereby produce a linear motion of the drill rod in a direction shown by the arrow D. If the drill rod should be wedged or if it should be heavy, the weight thereof will tend to draw the gripping rollers together, thereby providing a tighter grip of said rollers upon the rod.

It will be appreciated that it will be sometimes required to move drilling rods of varying sizes. If the pivotal axis of the arm members were fixed, this would result in varying angles of conveyence of the arm members relative to each other and the drill rod which would consequently affect the grip of the rollers upon the rod. In the present invention, however, the provision of the eccentric axle portions 25 and 26 of the shafts 22 permits the distance between the pivotal axes of each pair of arm members to be varied. This is accomplished by loosening 3 ofi the set screws 32 in each of the bearing blocks 20 and 21, rotating shafts 22 and 23 until the desired included angle between the arm members is attained, then resetting set screws 32 to restrain further rotation of shafts 22 and 23.

As has been previously noted, the apparatus It] may be carried on the bed of the drilling truck, not shown. The plate 12 is therefore provided with an aperture 62 through which the shaft of a bolt or the like, not shown, fixed to the truck bed, may be passed to serve as a spindle upon which the apparatus may he swung. One of the arms 14 is provided with a notch at the end thereof adapted to accept the shank of another bolt, not shown, also secured to the truck, over which a lock nut may be aflixed to secure the plate immovably once the apparatus has been placed in its correct position.

In the operation of the apparatus, the plate 12 is first swung into position substantially a shown in FIGURE 1, the arm members 43 and 44, and 45 and 46 swung towards each other, allowing the rollers 51 and 52 to engage with and set themselves correctly against the drill rod. The distance between the pivotal axes of the arm memhers is then adjusted by mean of the set screws 32, as previously explained, and then the plate 12 locked immovably also as hereinbefore explained. The transverse shaft is then rotated to rotate the rollers against the drill rod 18 to thereby move the latter into or out of the drill hole.

If it should be desired to move a horizontal drill rod, the apparatus is positioned so that the plane of the plate 12 is substantially vertical. The arm members may :be set in their position, as shown in solid lines in FIGURE 4, or in position as shown in dotted lines in said figure, the two positions being dependent upon the direction in which it is desired to move the rod. The rollers are then set in motion as hereinbefore explained What I claim as my invention is:

1. A drill rod mover comprising a base having a drill rod passing recess, two pairs of elongated spaced supporting arms, means for swingably connecting said pairs of arms at one of the ends of the latter to the base and on opposite sides of the recess therein for swinging movement in a plane parallel to the longitudinal axis of the drill rod into and out of convergent attitude over said recess, a peripherally toothed roller mounted for rotation between the arms of each of the pairs adjacent the free ends thereof for engagement with the drill rod, drive means for counterrotating the rollers, and a gear rack having gear teeth formed at the free end of each arm, the gear racks on one pair of arms being adapted to intermesh with the gear racks on the other pair of arms when the rollers are positioned in engagement with the rod, so as to prevent independent angular movement of said pairs of arms when the rollers are rotated.

2. A drill rod mover as claimed in claim 1 in which said drive means comprises a bearing block, a shaft rotatably mounted in the block, elongated axle members extending from the ends of the shaft in axially eccentric relationship thereto, and securing means for releasably securing the shaft in non-rotative relationship to the block, said one of said pairs of arms being mounted for rotation on said axle members.

3. A drill rod mover as claimed in claim 2 in which said securing means comprises a set screw'threadedly engaged with the block for movement into and out of frictional engagement with the shaft.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,387,944 8/1921 Price 254- 2,433,477 12/ 1947 OQuinn 254-30 ROBERT B. REEVES, Primary Examiner. 

1. A DRILL ROD MOVER COMPRISING A BASE HAVING A DRILL ROD PASSING RECESS, TWO PAIRS OF ELONGATED SPACED SUPPORTING ARMS, MEANS FOR SWINGABLY CONNECTING SAID PAIRS OF ARMS AT ONE OF THE ENDS OF THE LATTER TO THE BASE AND ON OPPOSITE SIDES OF THE RECESS THEREIN FOR SWINGING MOVEMENT IN A PLANE PARALLEL TO THE LONGITUDINAL AXIS OF THE DRILL ROD INTO AND OUT OF CONVERGENT ATTITUDE OVER SAID RECESS, A PERIPHERALLY TOOTHED ROLLER MOUNTED FOR ROTATION BETWEEN THE ARMS OF EACH OF THE PAIRS ADJACENT THE FREE ENDS THEREOF FOR ENGAGEMENT WITH THE DRILL ROD, DRIVE MEANS FOR COUNTERROTATING THE ROLLERS, AND A GEAR RACK HAVING GEAR TEETH FORMED AT THE FREE END OF EACH ARM, THE GEAR RACKS ON ONE PAIR OF ARMS BEING ADAPTED TO INTERMESH WITH THE GEAR RACKS ON THE OTHER PAIR OF ARMS WHEN THE ROLLERS ARE POSITIONED IN ENGAGEMENT WITH THE ROD, SO AS TO PREVENT INDEPENDENT ANGULAR MOVEMENT OF SAID PAIRS OF ARMS WHEN THE ROLLERS ARE ROTATED. 